Why the chancellor’s ‘back to work’ plans won’t work

Editorial: There are good reasons why the chancellor needs to get more people – including those with long-term illness and disabilities – into the labour market. But his final autumn statement before the general election is not about empowering our most vulnerable – it's all about the politics

22 November 2023 (Dave Brown)

Fiscal events”, as they’re called, sound like rather grey, technical affairs, delivered more or less in silence to a crowded Commons chamber by a chancellor seeking to display a steely commitment to prudence and responsibility. In reality, they are deeply political affairs, particularly in close proximity to a general election, and red in tooth and claw in their intent.

Jeremy Hunt, a man with a gentle demeanour but a keen sense of political mortality, will be no different when he rises to deliver what will surely be the last autumn statement before the government faces the electors. The autumn statement will be an expression of political choices, and, unfortunately, that looks like putting tax cuts ahead of protecting the most vulnerable in society.

With the old convention of “Budget purdah” now firmly consigned to history, there is no longer any period of Trappist restraint in advance of such announcements – so, via heavy hints and extensive briefings, the country knows what to expect. There will be an easing of taxation on business. The working classes (very broadly defined) will benefit from a snip in national insurance or income tax.